Improved metallic defensive armor



-119 all w/wm it may concern.'

and exact description `of the same, ,which has that the corners of suchbolts will gain 'ahold upon and tend to tear up or penetrate inclined.armor which will act equally well against round bolt in circumstanceswhere other armor would i this specification, and similar letters ofreference indicate like parts in both figures.

. sel or fortification constructed of wood and land bolted together 'inthe same manner as is generally adopted in ship-work. The entire4accordance with what are generally considered UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

i3., i3. .HOTCHKISSQ OF SHARON, UONNECTiCU'I.

IMPROVED METALLIC DEFENSIVE ARMOR.

Sprcilicntion forming part of vLetters Patent No. 31h-|52, dated Augustl2, 1862.

Be it known that I, B.' B. HoTcHKIss, of Sharon, in the county ofLitchfield, in tlieState of Connecticut, have invented a certain newandiinportant Improvement in Armor Plating for War-Vessels andFortifications; and I do hereby declare that the'following is afnll,clear,

of Letters Patent therefor. e

It has been found in experiments heretofore conducted relative to theeliect of projectiles upon iron plates that the i1at-headed bolt willpenetrate more readily than otheni'orms, and

been prepared with a view to theY procuring armor wherefotherprojectiles are deflected The object of my invention is to produce an orconical shot as that heretofore known, and which will also serve todeiiect the dat-headed be enetrated or loosened.

-T e nature of my invention consists in so overlapping inclined andsuperposed armor-- plates thata portion of the edges of each is onlyexposed'and suchedges when struck by a fiat-headed bolt or otherprojectile having suiiicicnt power to penetrate willl become detachedand form a shoeor false point for the projectile, on which shoe itglances or slides upon the next plate, and is thereby deiiected andprevented from doing other damage.

The accompanying drawings form a part of Figure l is a vertical section,and Fig. 2 is l plain view, of a portion of the side of a vesarmoredaccording to my invention. c

A represents a wall of timber, and B and C, respectively, the outer andinner skin or planking and ceiling, these parts being arrangedstructure-bolwerks, wall, easeinate,v breastwork, or whatever name itmay be called-is not perpendicular, but inclined at an angle of aboutforty-five degrees with the horizon, in

correct principles in iron -plateddefenses against ordnance.

1 2 3 4 5 6, Ste., are plates of iron of plain 'sform and of-properlength and breadth. D D, die., are bolts having heads counteisunk intothe plates at the points indicated,and provided with'nnts d and suitablewashers at their inner ends, as represented. The plates are ar- Arangedrelatively rto each other and to the wood-work A B C in them'annerreprcsented,

each plate lying with its lower edge'ncxt thc Wood and covering thesheet next above, ex-

cept aportion of the upper edge, and the platesof each series arearranged to break joints with the other series, as shown in Fig. 2. Thehead of each bolt, except the lowerniost ones,ou the entire structure iscovered bythe outer aud-lower plate,'so as to conceal and protect it inthe manner represented. flhc manner of arranging these and theiri'astenings is analogous to the arranging of shingles or clapboards on abuilding, except that in my invention the positions arevtlie reverse ofthose of ciapboards, the butts or exposed edges bcing in my :inventionpresented upward.

I prefer to use for the plates 1 2, die., iron as tough as can becommanded, accurately rolled and cut to the required shape, and aboutone inch thick. The'irawings represent four such plates superposed oneupon the other at every point on the outer surface of the work;4 but itis obvious that a greater or lesser number may be made to serve, as maybe desired. The plates are previously punched or drilled by suitablexnachinery,-so that the holes accurately coincide in position with eachother and. with the holes in the wood-work, and the plates are appliedby the aid of thc bolts and nuts in the obviousmanner, beginning withthe uppermost tier of plates and adding the next lower tierssuccessively.

E represents the position of a fiat-headed boit from a Whitworth orother suitable rified gun at the instant of its impact with the plates.The red Iinesindicate an important function or effect of the inventionin shoeing such a bolt and making it at least practical! y rounded vinform outside. It will l served that the lower edge of the projectile atits forward end meets the outer plate in n favorable position forcuttingoii the plate on i the outside layer, so as to commence topenetrate-the shield or armor, but that the mere act of cutting theouter plate under these eircumstances causes the piece cut to be carriedforward with the shot on an angle, as shown in red outline. Inthiscondition the front of theprojectile will meet the face .ofy the nextand next succeeding plate with less ability to ent them-that is to say,while the bolt E vwould bite eil'ectively hold ofthe solid plating of anordinarily platedgvcsscl, in inyiinproved armor, so soon as it cutsclear a piece of the enter plate, the said piece is held by friction andother eircu mstanccs in the front ofthe shot,A

soas practically to blunt or round the front',

ofthe bolt and cause'it to slipor glance from the succeeding plates.

I am aware that plating has before been made in several separate'layersof plates; but

. I do not know that'it has ever been before arranged so as to producethe effect of my inven. tion in glancing the projectiles upward, cans.

ing a portion of the outer` plate to be cut o `or' crushed out andcarried forward, so as to shield the-other plates-in `part from theaction of thel projectile,or rather from the edgesthereof, inthe mannerlhaveshown.

It is obviousthat if theblow is sulieientlyv severe the under plates, a,and the plates, 1 2

8vo., 'which are first applied, may be crushed and indented by the forceupon the superposed plates; but the general effect of theinvention issu'icientl y indicated by the figures.

'The facility afforded by my inventionfo'r fitting and applying thearmor, also for allow- .ing the same to work in a seaway, and also forallowing rough edged or `uhtrim med plates to be used, is very obvious.

I have represented three methods of ladaptin g the lower edges oftheseveral, plates to the the square e lgesxnay be employed, or any,

suitable soft material may be introduced-to lill the spaces.

AAll the plates of my invention may of course be underla-id with anyother material or overlaid with any material, or each plate may beseparately coated*l or laid upon any suitable fibrous, gnmmyfor othermodifying or preserving material.

The bolts D may be lmade in any style or securedin. any manner otherthan by nutsl d, if desired, ar'd the plates 1 2, &c.,may bo grooved andto'ngned together at their edges, so as to strengthen the joints, ifdesired,

Having now fully described 'my invention what I claim as new, and desireto secure by f The arrangement of th'eplates 1 2 3, Src.,

upon the ineli'ned .sides of ,vessels and fortifications, so thatthelower plate'sshall overlap upon the higher, in the manner and' forthe purpose herein set forth.'v

n.1 n. Horenmss.

' Witnesses: G. vH. BABoocrc,

Tiros. CREGIN. f

